THE CROWN'S GAME by Evelyn Skye \\ Worth The Hype Or No?

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

I, like nearly every other YA reader, was over the moon excited
to read this story. It screamed all things Grisha and gave the
hope to bring the reader the feels of The Darkling and Alina. I'm sorry to
say that I may be the black sheep (again) because I did not get those feelings
from this book. There is so much hype around this book that I
just did not feel it was necessary.

This is the story of Vika and Nikolai, two Enchanters competing
for a place beside the Tsar. Holding the title of Enchanter to the Tsar is one
of the most prestigious positions in the land. The battle between Vika and
Nikolai will end with one killing the other as there can be only one and there
is no way to not compete. When Vika was young, she was trained by her
"father" for this competition without knowing she
was going to be involved in this magic battle. Nikolai was just the opposite -
he knew exactly what was going to happen when he became of age. Once the battle
begins, they are both given turns to try to out magic and kill the other. At
the same time, they are trying to impress Pasha, the Tsar. As the story and
battle continues, Vika and Nikolai become attracted to each other. Their magic
turns from trying to kill the other, to impressing the other. What is to happen
now that they have feelings for each other?

This story left me feeling a little confused. I knew the premise
of the story was to win the title of Enchanter but the focus changed about half
way through. It soon became a love story and the main focus was lost. I don't
mind that at all, but it felt like it took the wind out of the sails. I wanted
to read more about the magic and creativity, but instead it was how each other
used magic to impress the other. Vika and Nikolai both had their talents and
were only limited by their imagination. One question that stayed with me the
entire book was how did their magic work? Vika was able to
manipulate elemental while Nikolai could change mechanical. Why would't the
Tsar want both Enchanters then? Wouldn't that be the smarter
choice?

The character I found most interesting was Pasha, the one next
in line to rule. He felt like such an honest character, but sadly he was the
most naive character. He was best friends with Nikolai but had no idea that
magic existed and was appalled to find out his best friend was an Enchanter.
Seriously? How can someone within the royal family be so sheltered??

The one thing that really, really stood out to me about this
story is that it just felt like a long book. I found myself not paying
attention to what was going on because it just had too much fluff. I almost
forgot what the overall purpose of the story was - these two Enchanters trying
to kill the other to win the game. The story felt as if it really lost momentum
towards the end of the story because it turned into a love story. That's not
really what I wanted to read when I picked up this book.

Overall, I
liked this book but there is no way that I loved this book. It simply did not
live up to the hype. I'm not upset that I read this book, not one bit. I'm glad
I did, but it just did not really do it for me, that's why I gave this book 3.5
stars.